Depths of Heroism
Depths of Heroism is the next part of Star Wars: Mammals of the Old Republic. Premise This is in Nick's POV. Now, we are on the ocean world of Manaan. This is the site of the moment we have been waiting for, the kiss of Nick and Judy, which will be at the end of the story. Also I moved the Darth Bandon battle to the start of the underwater section. Story After traveling through hyperspace, we arrive on Manaan. Due to the fact that we have typically gotten very little sleep on this journey, we all enjoyed those times that we could rest. Hyperspace was perfect for that. Once we enter the atmosphere, we head down to Ahto City, the only land area on Manaan, for this world was covered entirely in ocean. During the trip, Judy and I once more shared a vision of the star map. It was beneath the surface, on the ocean floor. I sighed. How were we going to find it? I then put it out of my mind. We had work to do. We went through the doorway that lead to a large hallway. Upon getting there, we came upon an argument between a wolf Republic solider and a dingo Sith solider. They were hurling insults at one another, though not actually fighting physically. Such a thing was illegal on Manaan. The government of the Selkath allowed both the Republic and the Sith to establish embassies on the planet, but maintained a strict neutrality that also entailed anyone who committed an act of violence of any sort being arrested by the local police force and put on trial. I knew that we had to tread lightly. One mistake, and we might not be leaving for a long time. Finally, the Sith left. In frustration, the Republic solider explained that because of the law, they simply had to stand there and let the Sith insult them. After calming down, he told us that if we were looking for the Republic Embassy, we could find it by traveling through to one of the nearby areas of the city. After that, we went to search it out. Upon arrival, we met with the Kudu ambassador. I asked about the star map. Suddenly, he seemed hesitant. He then said that he might know something, but we had to do something for him first. That something, I immediately found out, was raiding the Sith base. Apparently, a classified droid had been stolen, and its information module needed to be recovery. We had several options to get us into the Sith base. We chose the option of fighting through the Sith's personal hangar and taking a large transport directly to the base. We promptly set off. We entered, waited for the security cams to shut off, and then entered. The fighting didn't last long, and we were soon aboard the transport. During the ride, Judy and I shared a look. I could see something in her eyes. I wondered for just a second if something was happening within her regarding me. It certainly seemed that way, but, then again, there was her devotion to the Jedi code. Putting that out of my mind, we arrived. We entered. From there, we began our search. However, the guards and the head of the embassy found us, and a fight ensued. We defeated them and continued on. Rich and Zara went ahead with Bogo and HK-47 in order to continue the clean-up. We searched all over the base, until, finally, we found the droid. Defeating the guards, we got the information module. When Rich, Zara, Bogo and HK came back, they were accompanied by a group of young Selkath. Zara explained that the Sith had been training them in the dark side in order to overthrow the Selkath government. She handed over a datapad, taken from the body of a Spotted hyena Sith master they had defeated, that proved it. It was time to get back to the ambassador. However, when we opened the door, we were met by the Ahto City Police, who arrested me, taking my lightsaber from me. I was taken to the prison, where I was interviewed by the one who would supposedly help me in the court. I insisted that I represent myself, against the arbiter's wishes. I merely asked that Zara be allowed to hand over the datapad, a request that was granted, due to it being evidence. I was taken to trial. I was not nervous. Judy's presence gave me courage to face this hurdle. I pleaded not guilty, and explained the situation, then had Zara give them the datapad. The Selkath judges were horrified. They gave me a not guilty verdict, set me free, had one of the guards return my lightsaber to me, and declared that the Sith were no longer under the protection of Selkath law, and that their organization was under a permanent "Do Not Assist" label from the Ahto City Police. I walked out of the court with Judy at my side. I had to admit it: I was head over paws in love with her. But it couldn't be expressed just yet. There was still the matter of the star map. We returned to the Republic ambassador, who welcomed us and eagerly took the information module. He then told us that they had constructed an undersea base to mine the healing substance kolto, but they had lost contact. We needed to go down and see if anyone still survived. He had prepared a sub for us. However, only four fit in it. I chose Judy, Rich and Zara to go with me. We went down beneath Manaan's beautiful blue oceans. After a short travel time, we docked with the base, where, in an instant, we learned the truth. From a green Twi'lek mercenary that we met, we learned that the group of Selkath scientists working in the base had somehow gone savage, attacking, killing and eating their mammal, Twi'lek and Zabrak counterparts. We were stunned. We slowly but surely entered the base, only to encounter the Dark Jedi who had killed Trask back on the Endar Spire. His double-bladed lightsaber was ignited, and he was accompanied by a coyote Dark Jedi with two lightsabers and a wolf Dark Jedi with two lightsabers. In the course of the conversation that followed, we learned that the puma's name was Darth Bandon, and he was Malak's apprentice. In the ensuing battle, Rich and Zara took him, while I fought the wolf and Judy fought the coyote. Soon, all three were dead. We had three less enemies now. I ended up having to go out onto the sea floor in an enviro-suit, alone. Using a sonic gun, I took out vicious Firaxa sharks. When I got to the next building, I found two genet scientists, from whom I learned more of the story: a giant Firaxa shark was behind this. When the machinery disturbed it, it let out a sonic scream that caused the Selkath to go savage and attack. With advice from one of the genets, I went back out on the ocean floor and destroyed the machinery, causing the shark to calm down. Going past it, I found the star map. For a long moment, I wondered how it was put here. Then, it was time to go back up to the surface. We did so, explaining what had happened to the ambassador, much to his distress. I was arrested yet again, but again found not guilty when I explained the situation. Finally, we could get ready to leave. It was late in the day. We organics ate dinner at a local restaurant, where we agreed to sleep on the ship and leave in the morning. When we got back, I talked to Judy again, and she admitted that she was ready to face this. We went into one of the sleep areas, shutting the door behind us for privacy. We talked about everything that had happened since we met on Taris. She told me that I was unlike any Jedi she had ever known. I said the same thing to her. Then, it happened. We held each other, and we kissed deeply on the lips. When we broke it, Judy took a step back. She said she needed to leave, to meditate on the Jedi code, to hide that she had broken it. I let her go peacefully, but we both knew it. In a single moment, everything had changed. The next morning, we all woke up and took off for Korriban, the birthplace of the Sith. Little did we know what we were about to experience. Category:Star Wars: Mammals of the Old Republic saga Category:Stories from Nick´s POV Category:POV stories Category:WildeHopps stories Category:NickXJudy Category:PrinceBalto fanon Category:PrinceBalto fanfics